Mps Arts, Music Struggle For Funding

By Terry Lawler

Nothing great,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” And, if enthusiasm alone could sustain a school district’s curricula, then fine arts in the Milwaukee Public Schools would flourish indefinitely.

The dedication of administrators, teachers, parents and community members at large has resulted in MPS being named “one of the 10 best districts in the nation for the teaching of art and music,” according to Kim Abler, Coordinator of Art for MPS. Abler, a classroom teacher for 20 years, cites Elm Creative Arts Elementary School as a shining success story.

For more than 25 years, Elm School has provided its students with music, visual arts, and theater classes, all integrated with “core” curriculum.

Unfortunately, according to Abler, “the schools can’t function well under the state’s current budget restrictions,” and despite alternative forms of funding such as grants, arts programs will suffer greatly starting this school year.

Marilyn White, a graduate of Milwaukee Pulaski High School and a 34-year veteran of teaching music in MPS, is concerned that Elm “has lost two full- time arts instructors, one in drama and the other in music.”

“We don’t want our kids to suffer from these cuts, so those of us who are left will have to ‘step up’ our efforts. Instead of twice a week, our students will receive general music instruction only once.”

According to White, this undercuts the very reason why Elm is so successful, “one of the most successful elementary schools in MPS.”

“Every teacher at Elm must have 22 credits in the arts. We try to set aside a time every month for children from any grade level to share what they are learning with the rest of the Elm family,” she said.

Elm is called a “specialty school,” and its course offerings go far beyond those of a “traditional” school. However, the specialty schools are budgeted just like a traditional school even though it takes more money to sustain their programs.

“Elementary schools are affected the most from budget cuts,” Abler said. “They’re small and have fewer dollars to work with.”
Barry Applewhite, MPS coordinator of music, agrees.

“Because MPS is decentralized, each school has to allot its money as it deems most beneficial to the students,” he said.

Because each elementary school is given its budget according to enrollment, schools with expanded programs have to “maintain more with less.”

Abler said the principals bear the burden of tough budget decisions.

“Principals have cut assistant principal positions and other programs to try to maintain full-time arts positions,” she said.
Adler, Applewhite and White are enthusiastic about what the arts have done for children and the need for people to stop regarding the arts as expendable when budgets become tight.

“Our students take part in major productions that reinforce and supplement all curricular areas,” Applewhite said. “Our Biennial Music Festival requires extensive planning, a formidable task in such a large district. Everything that is done concentrates on following state and national required standards.”

Applewhite fears that “with budget restraints and the threat of continued cuts in music program funding, the pursuit of excellence will become more difficult.”

White adds that parental and community involvement is very strong at Elm, with “parents helping with tasks like costume-making” and “professional artists from the area coming into the school to work with kids.”

Their enthusiasm is dampened by decreasing funding, due to a large extent to the revenue controls imposed by the state. Even though art and music are required by the state, and MPS has instituted a minimum arts requirement at the elementary level, 27 elementary schools out of 120 have had to cut programs in art, and more than 16 music positions have been lost in 2002. The positions were cut through attrition.

Applewhite cites a study showing that more than 50% of valedictorians and salutatorians have strong backgrounds in the arts. In addition, MPS administrators voted a graduate of Milwaukee High School of the Performing Arts as one of the most outstanding students in the district.

“There is always a waiting list of students who wish to be enrolled at Elm,” White said. “Educators come from all over the world to study our school.”

Applewhite uses himself as an example of what involvement in the arts can mean to a child.

“I was a ‘jock’ and a student with no direction when I was a kid,” he said. “One day, on a dare, I threw an eraser into the band room and hit a bass drum. The instructor came running out and offered me a choice: join the band or face suspension. I thought he’d forget all about it in a couple of weeks and I could quit, but I really loved being in band. And now, here I am, coordinator of music for MPS.”

All three see darker days ahead, not only for the arts but for schools in general.

“We are facing serious teacher shortages in all areas,” Applewhite warned. The QEO, coupled with reduced budgets, has made teaching a less desirable career choice than it was in the past.
Applewhite is sending a quote to his music instructors this fall to serve as an inspiration: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Above the quote is a photo of its source playing a violin: Albert Einstein.

Terry Lawler is a retired Kenosha teacher and former editor of the Kenosha Education Association’s GLUE newsletter.

Posted August 23, 2002